Sunday, August 31, 2008

Hey, what do you want from me, it's the only holiday that's never got its own horror movie.

* * * * * * * * * *

On a more serious note, The Vault of Horror was saddened to learn of the passing last Friday night of Killer Kowalski, truly one of the most horrifying wrestlers to ever set foot in the ring. He was 81.

The Montreal World Film Festival attracts a very particular crowd. It is an appreciative crowd, both respectful and intelligent. For two weeks at the end of August every year, Montrealers craving truly international and independent fare have the opportunity to congregate and marvel at the best the world has to offer. As per usual, I caught what I could. I was pleasantly surprised by some and astonished by others. Good or bad, I was amongst my peers and the Montreal World Film Festival is a community well worth being counted amongst. Although, I must ask, who is in charge of their marketing? Look at that poster! Cats in glasses and hats? C'mon.

Festival head, Serge Losique, is notorious for disliking American fare and so, just like the previous years, this festival was very light on the kind of splashy Hollywood pictures that attract so many to the upcoming Toronto film festival. Still, Losique did manage a sizeable coup with the festival’s opening night selection, FAUBOURG 36. Hailing from France, as one might be able to deduce from the title, PARIS 36, as it is known in English, is Christophe Barratier’s second feature film and follow up to his international debut, LES CHORISTES. While his first feature effort was brazenly honest, direct and unexpectedly hopeful, FAUBOURG 36 is decidedly theatrical – appropriate considering its setting in a dying Parisian theatre. The vaudevillian players that run the show and weave in and out of corridors and dressing rooms know this space as if it were their home and fight for it, again as though it were their home, when it is shut down just before the start of the second world war. Actors don’t fight with guns though; they fight with words and songs and laughter. In order to save their own jobs and livelihood, a trio of amateurs do the only thing they know how to and put on a show. Barratier exerts a strong command of his extravagant picture, balancing delicately between the romanticism and idealism of realizing your dreams and the hardships and tension felt amongst the Parisian people during the trying time. My only true complaint is that the main plot is bookended by a murder that adds nothing and is far less interesting than the formal plight. It is as though the show comes back for one too many encores.

Losique may not like Hollywood productions but the American fare he finds sometimes is embarrassing. No offence to the well-intentioned cast and crew, most of whom were present for the screening I attended, but Ron Satlof’s MISCONCEPTIONS was so ridiculously off the mark that it had no business playing as part of the festival. I feel awful bad mouthing the lot of them because they were all so happy at the screening but it was a miracle I didn’t get up in the middle of it all and scream uncontrollably so I have to get this out before it gives me an ulcer. Nothing about this farce makes any sense. It opens at some Jesus picnic in the South somewhere. Two sisters are peddling their wares (a catering company called “Fishes & Loaves”) when one decides to carry a fertilized embryo that had been liberated from a lab where it would have been used for (gasp) stem cell research. The other can’t seem to get her husband to entertain the notion of another child after they lost their first child to some rare syndrome five years prior. It is this night that Jesus tells her in a prayer that finds her falling back on to the floor in Hallelujah-style ecstasy that she should seek out the interracial gay couple she saw on late night cable and carry their child for them. Considering how much Jesus hates gays in that part of the world, this is pretty shocking to her. This would also explain why she lies to her husband. Apparently, lying is a commandment that is only loosely followed. Let’s see, what else happens? Her husband flips out when he finally finds out and sues her for custody of the child that doesn’t belong to her. Her sister’s husband has an affair and she decides she wants nothing to do with the devil children she is carrying. Oh, and one of the gay guys (the costume designer/ choreographer) can’t find his Prada shoes when his boyfriend reminds him that he returned that gift. What self-respecting gay man would return Prada? Nonsense, through and through.

I returned home from the states to watch a Quebec-produced premiere, LE BANQUET. It was a red carpet affair, which meant that the general film going public, including the press apparently, had to sit on the upper levels of the theatre to make room for the industry to fill the entire first floor. Ordinarily, this would tick me off but I wouldn’t have wanted to have been any closer to this film from skilled Quebec director, Sebastien Rose. LE BANQUET is a bizarre experience. On the one hand, it is a technical marvel. The film moves so smoothly and Rose exerts a tight control over the numerous storylines that all revolve loosely around a particular Montreal university. The color shifts from soothing blue to sparse white and the editing between scenes or moments is so specific, calculated and executed perfectly. Still, for all its formal perfection, it is a very cold experience that is hard to appreciate simply because it is so heavy. Rose, who co-wrote the screenplay with his father, Hubert-Yves Rose, also a film director, explores the education system by asking pertinent questions. Is education really for everybody? Do universities just let anyone in these days as long as their cheques clear? Would increased tuition for students help elevate the level of education or simply make it impossible for those less fortunate to attend? While these are all relevant and intriguing questions, the answers are better discussed over dinner than on film. After all, this is not a documentary so how does one explore serious, political issues in a narrative setting? A lot of talking, that’s how – too much talking. With all its mechanical mastery, LE BANQUET is the TRAFFIC of the Quebec educational system without any of the emotional impact or future insight.

Sometimes, given the obscure unknown nature of the titles, all you can go on is the title itself. And when a film has a title like, THE CHICKEN, THE FISH AND THE KING CRAB, how can you pass it up? This documentary from Spain follows Spanish chef, Jesus Almagro, as he, his assistant and team of a dozen or so consultants prepare for the Bocuse d’Or, an international cooking competition held annually in Lyons, France. If I happened to be one of these people with hours upon countless hours of time to waste, I would spend a good chunk of them watching the Food Network so the idea of going behind the scenes of a cooking competition truly wet my appetite. Sadly, the cinematography in this film has got nothing on the popular television station. If I can’t eat it, I’d better be able to devour it with my eyes and this film, from Jose Louis Lopez-Linares, famed Spanish director and cinematographer, does nothing to get you salivating. Unlike other docs that focus on competitions, this one follows only the Spanish. There are occasional testimonials from other participants but nothing so extensive that you actually get a strong sense of what the world is cooking. Instead, with Spanish bearing the weight of the focus, we can only root for them to win. Spreading the love improves your chances of following a winner but narrowing the focus makes it all do or die. We do grow to love the earnest, Spanish chef but what we’re left to sit with is not a wide bouquet of flavor, rather it is a bittersweet after taste.

One of my favorite things about this festival is the unexpected surprise. There isn’t always a plethora of information available on each title so sometimes you’ve just got to leave it to fate. China’s PARKING was that picture for me this year. First time filmmaker and writer, Chung Mong-Hong, makes a strong mark with his startling debut. It isn’t perfect but its tone and originality are as striking as they are haunting. Popular Chinese actor, Chen Chang, plays Chen Mo, a man going through an extreme bit of bad luck. It is Mother’s Day and all he has to do is pick up some cake to bring home to his wife so that they can share a much needed night of intimacy and connection. He pulls up in front of the bakery and parks illegally. A few seconds later, another car pulls away and he decides to play it safe and park in the legal spot instead. It is a decision as basic as deciding to have a cigarette before sitting down to dinner but in this case, it changes his entire evening and maybe even his life. When he exits the bakery, another car has double parked next to him, making it impossible for him to get out. And so he meets a number of strangers as he looks for a way to get home. Mong-Hong creates a unique experience that is always unanticipated and always insightful. While his encounters are clearly meant to mean something greater than the way they appear on the surface, Mong-Hong makes no particular effort to infuse these meetings with meaning but rather allows the meaning to form in the minds of his audience. It occasionally veers slightly off course but the promise it shows more than compensates for any shortcomings. PARKING is a quiet film that creates fragile, complex spaces and leaves you wishing that he was never able to get his car out.

The festival has left me spent and with just enough time to prepare for Toronto. At least at Toronto, I won't have to think to much. Thanks for reading and I hope you had as much fun at the festival as I did.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

In just a matter of weeks now, all manner of bizarre creatures, madmen and otherwordly forces will descend upon New York City. And by that, I mean more than just on the average Friday night in the East Village.

It's the NYC Horror Film Festival, currently the biggest genre film festival in these United States, and it's coming just in time for Halloween, as it has every year since its inception in 2001. The festival is based at Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan, but there will be screenings held throughout the city. No word yet on what films will be shown, as the call for submissions is still open.

In the past, the NYC festival has screened the director's cut of Hostel and the world premiere of the Masters of Horror, as well as past classics like Zombi 2 and The Return of the Living Dead. It has also honored such genre luminaries as Roger Corman, Tony Todd, Tom Savini and George Romero.

You can check out the official website here. Looks like any horror hounds within driving distance of Manhattan would do well to get themselves down there. And hey, if anybody from the festival is reading this, how about hookin' up ol' B-Sol with some press passes?

Friday, August 29, 2008

While this is far from official at the moment, word on the street is that Platinum Dunes--the production company run by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form--has blown its window of opportunity for remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Fans will recall that Platinum Dunes was brought on board by Warner Bros. back in January to reboot the franchise, owing to its rep for doing the same for other properties like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. Last month, they even hired a screenwriter--Wesley Strick, the writer of Arachnaphobia, Wolf and Scorsese's Cape Fear.

But now the Vault has discovered that the Warner Bros.-Platinum Dunes deal may, in fact, have fallen apart. To be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean that the Nightmare remake isn't happening (though let's all keep our fingers crossed on that one), it just means that Michael Bay won't be the one doing it. Not sure if this means that Strick is no longer working on the script.

Why Platinum Dunes blew it, if in fact it did, still isn't clear. Could it be that they simply came to their senses? Nah, I don''t think so, either.

Slinkachu, the world's favourite little-person street-artist is having a solo show at the Cosh Gallery from today onwards.

The gallery says: GROUND ZERO: Little People in the City is the first solo show from Slinkachu featuring all new works at Cosh Gallery, Soho, this August. Slinkachu has taken street art to a new scale, painstakingly hand-painting tiny characters that live in a world that’s too small for us to always notice beneath our feet.

His street installations are constructed in all sorts of public spaces, the portrayal of little lives that mirror our own. Working in miniature opens up the city landscapes in unexpected ways and this is explored in Ground Zero where he literally brings you down to a new level.

The exhibition is open 28 August - 20 September.Cosh Gallery69 Berwick StreetSohoLondonW1F 8SZ

Tokyoplastic are really taking their animation skills further now and are creating longer films. This video, called "Electric Koi" comes in at 8 minutes long and is a good'un. The synopsis: One day, Satsuma, a little girl that lives on an apparently desert island, discovers she's not alone anymore. The new island's resident carries a secret with him that, in the end, will force Satsuma to chose between loyalty and betrayal. Directed by Sam Lanyon-Jones & Andy Cope, also known as Tokyoplastic

Thursday, August 28, 2008

They say there's no such thing as bad press and German director, Uwe Boll, better hope they're right as Entertainment Weekly named him the worst contemporary film director on the planet (or something like that) earlier this year. Still, someone's got to like this guy as he keeps making movies. In fact he's got four more at various stages of production right now. His 2007 film, POSTAL, has just hit DVD and BLACK SHEEP REVIEWS is giving you the chance to win one of three copies of the film the New York Times calls "infantile, irreverent and boorish to the max." We've even got an added bonus, thanks to the good folks at Peace Arch Home Entertainment. If you win a DVD copy, you also get an autographed mini-poster from Uwe Boll himself!

Now I haven't seen this film so I'm not trying to push it on you. I am trying to push free stuff on you though. All you need to do is drop me an e-mail explaining why you love (or hate) Uwe Boll (a couple of sentences will suffice). Someone has got to defend this guy! Three winners will be picked at random from the entries and the best responses will be published on Black Sheep. Entries will be accepted until midnight on Monday, September 1, and the winners will be announced the next day. Be sure to include your contact info as well so that I can arrange for you to get your prize. (e-mail joseph@blacksheepreviews.com)

Good luck and go!

CONTEST CLOSED ... AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Charles Marcil who wrote:Two words ... videogames rock.

Christian Montpetit who wrote:I could go on and on like the haters and say he's ruining movies and video games .... bla bla bla but I won't . Why ? Plain and simple, the dude's got BALLS. He has something in mind; he will do everything he can to do it. It may be by scamming the German government or by organizing boxing matches with his haters. I don't particularly love his movies as they are for the most part, entertaining at best but they are not total disasters like some are making it seem. What I think he lacks, is the ability to choose the right actors for the parts. So all in all , I will at one point or another watch all his movies but you won't see me @ the theatre to see them.

And Jason Hughes who wrote:Uwe Boll is great if only because he's different. Fearless and often tasteless, the results are always interesting, something which the mainstream film industry sorely lacks.

Congratulations and thank you to all who participated. Winners will be contacted via e-mail.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

As was already discussed at length in The Vault of Horror's history of horror movies, the early 1970s was a time of great change in the entertainment industry. In film, the death of the studio system and the fall of the Hays Code meant less restriction on filmmakers than ever before, as could be seen most clearly in the horror genre.

This was a problem for television. Because although social mores were adjusting and heretofore taboo themes were starting to be addressed on the small screen, many of the old restrictions were still in place, certainly much more so than on the big screen. While nudity and gore was the order of the day for the movies, the tube remained comparatively puritanical. For purveyors of televised terror, this added the challenge of capturing an audience despite being unable to compete when it came to much of what was defining horror entertainment at the time.

Ironically, TV networks nevertheless tried their best to beat the studios on their own turf. And so the 1970s became the era of the made-for-TV horror movie. Much of the time, this served only to accentuate the manacles which Standards & Practices had placed upon them--however, at its best, the movement served as proof of the power of effective storytelling over graphic visuals.

A solid example would be ABC's Dracula (1973) starring Jack Palance. But for every Dracula, there was a Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1973).

One of the efforts that found a place decidedly in the thumbs up category was a project spearheaded by producer Dan Curtis, who had also been responsible for Palance's Dracula. Based on a novel by Jeff Rice with a teleplay by genre legend Richard Matheson, The Night Stalker hinged on an intriguing conceit: scruffy reporter Carl Kolchak has an uncanny nose for the supernatural, and stumbles upon the case of a vampire preying on young girls in Vegas. Unfortunately, his abrasive reputation doesn't help him in getting anyone to believe him.

The Night Stalker TV movie was a such a success that a full-fledged weekly series was developed by ABC for the 1974-75 season, with the delightful Darren McGavin in the lead. Each week, Kolchak came face-to-face with a different monstrous menace. Despite its rigid, formulaic approach, the show managed to be both genuinely funny and genuinely scary.

Although its novelty caught the attention of a cult audience, it wasn't enough to keep the show on the air for more than a season. Nevertheless, Kolchak: The Night Stalker would become one of the most influential TV series in the history of horror. Most notably, Chris Carter has stated that it was the direct inspiration for his show, The X-Files.

But the short-lived Kolchak was an aberration during a time when stand-alone TV movies remained the order of the day. The two-part adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot (1979) was just as enjoyable and frightening as anything in theaters at the time, and the BBC's production of Count Dracula (1977) starring Louis Jourdan (which aired on PBS in America) is considered by some time to be the finest adaptation of Stoker's novel.

Outside the TV-movie, there wasn't much horror on TV to speak of at the time. It seemed that just maybe, network execs were under the impression that the current cinematic horror scene had rendered the episodic horror TV of yesteryear obsolete.

It wasn't until the dawn of the '80s that some dim signs of life began to appear again. In 1980, Hammer Films in the U.K. decided to capitalize on the weight of its name within the genre by introducing the excellent anthology show Hammer's House of Horror. And none other than George A. Romero, one of the States' most revered horror creators from the film world, stepped into the realm of TV with his own unique take on the tried-and-true anthology format.

Tales from the Darkside (1984-88) was at the same time a throwback and a bold step forward. While its very title and package were homages to that which had come before, the Romero-produced series wasn't afraid to change things up. It dispensed with the "host" gimmick, for one, and managed to push the envelope in terms of intensity more than any network anthology series had up to that point. Yet, it could also balance that out with liberal doses of black humor.

The success of Tales from the Darkside was definitely a turning point, and almost single-handedly lifted the concept of the horror TV series out of limbo. Pretty soon, everyone was trying to get in on the act. In 1985, two classic shows from the past, The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, were relaunched and rebooted for a new audience--and with effective results, for the most part. The fledgling Fox network cribbed the formula of the old Incredible Hulk series and gave it a horror spin with the vastly underrated series Werewolf (1987-88).

But the ultimate examples of television finally finding its groove in the wake of the new style of horror movie had to be the extension of the 1980s' two most successful horror flick franchises into TV-land. In the late '80s, both Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street gave birth to their own TV "spinoffs". Friday the 13th: The Series (1987-90) had nothing to do with the machete-wielding Jason, but rather focused on the exploits of a pair of antique dealers trying to recover cursed antiques from around the globe. Freddy's Nightmares (1988-90), hosted by Robert Englund as Mr. Krueger, followed more of the anthology format, spinning bloody tales of the unfortunate residents of Elm Street.

Freddy's Nightmares caught some attention from fans for raising the gore quotient higher than any TV series had done up to that point. Still, there was only so far it could go, and the show was a mere shadow of its R-rated cinematic counterpart. Although the late 1980s saw what was perhaps horror TV's biggest boom period in terms of the proliferation of shows, the reason it didn't last was that it once again reminded fans of the differences between the big screen and the small.

On top of that, through it all, the networks not only had to contend with the movies and the new VCR technology, but the burgeoning area of cable TV as well. Over the course of the 1980s, cable had been a juggernaut, spreading across the nation like wildfire. And in the case of the premium, sponsor-less channels like HBO and Showtime, the restrictions which had defined TV since its birth were non-existent. Anything went in the maverick new medium, and it would only be a matter of time before cable bigwigs realized this could be applied to original, episodic programming.

Just when it seemed that televised horror could never compete, cable had arrived to give the genre the shot in the arm it needed to stave off extinction. The gloves were off, and HBO was about to bring movie-quality horror into American homes for the first time ever.

I am not American but the majority of films I review are. For Americans, and I say that in a very broad sense, November is a month for thanks. It is also a month for spending and one of the last chances for Hollywood to unleash its big guns before the jolliest of holidays the following month. This doesn’t just mean big blockbusters like the new James Bond or that vampire movie all the kids are talking about. November is also the perfect occasion to platform potential award contenders, otherwise known as Oscar bait. And so, there is something for everyone at this Thanksgiving feast. So let us be thankful for all that we will receive.

In 2006, we gave thanks to director, Martin Campbell (GOLDENEYE), when he gave the world the new face (and body!) of Bond, Daniel Craig, and they both made it look so easy. CASINO ROYALE was smooth and satisfying to both Bond fans and neophytes alike. For the first time, Bond is back in a sequel instead of an entirely separate story. Now we give thanks for the next chapter, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and while Craig is back for his second at bat, Campbell has bowed out to make room for Marc Forster (FINDING NEVERLAND). From the trailer, it would seem as though Bond is on his own to fight injustice and that his character is increasingly in question. I needn’t divulge any information on the plot (not that I have any really) because with stunts and shots as exciting and dynamic as the ones featured in the teaser, what does it even matter?

In 2005, we gave thanks to Ang Lee for giving the world a benchmark for not just gay themed cinema but all cinema, with his masterpiece, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. It was expected that Hollywood, as it always does, would jump on the film’s success and begin pumping out the gay stories for the masses. Only the complete opposite happened; what happened up on Brokeback, stayed up on Brokeback. Now, we can thank openly gay director, Gus Van Sant, for breaking the silence with his biographical account of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to political office. MILK is set is the late 70’s and features potential powerhouse performances by the young Emile Hirsch and James Franco as well as the Milk man himself, Sean Penn. Van Sant is not often overtly gay, thematically that is, in his films (the most notable and breathtaking exception would be his 1991 classic, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO) but if he can pull MILK off, than I can perhaps think of forgiving him for PARANOID PARK. (No trailer available yet.)

It has been seven years since director, Baz Luhrmann, gave those that enjoy a good musical a great reason to be thankful with MOULIN ROUGE! While that film was a delightful overdose of colour and love, his latest, AUSTRALIA, is simply epic, if that can even be possible. To describe it, it sounds quite plain. Nicole Kidman plays a British aristocrat who has inherited an enormous cattle drive. When her land is threatened, she travels across 2,000 miles of terrifying terrain, only to end up in the middle of the second world war. The good news, she has handsome Hugh Jackman at her side for protection. To watch it though, is nothing plain at all (except in YouTube quality, of course). Luhrmann seems ready to stake his own claim as a serious director with a drastic departure and masterful turn of style (much like Paul Thomas Anderson did last year with THERE WILL BE BLOOD). The best part I’m sure is that he’s doing it all on his home turf.

I am personally thankful that I have not had to sit through a Jamie Foxx film of late. I marveled like the rest of the world at his compelling turn in RAY and enjoyed the understated counterpart performance in COLLATERAL. Then it all changed. He was everywhere and he was downright cocky about it. Now though, thanks to director, Joe Wright (ATONEMENT and PRIDE & PREJUDICE), I am ready to let him back in. In THE SOLOIST, Foxx plays a musical genius who ends us schizophrenic and homeless. While busking for change, he meets a journalist that will change his fate, played by 2008’s comeback kid, Robert Downey Jr. While it all sounds like it has no edge at all, I have total faith in Wright as he has yet to do any wrong and had the gall to cast actual homeless and mentally ill people as extras to ensure he had both authenticity and the most humble of performances from his cast. (No trailer available yet.)

And lastly, I am thankful that I grew up in the time of Anne Rice’s vampires and not those of the iPod generation’s, Stephanie Meyer’s vampires. After Harry Potter abandoned the Thanksgiving weekend spot for a tentpole position next July, TWILIGHT swooped in for the kill. The books are international successes and the film is highly anticipated but if it truly is a teen sensation, I suspect it will retreat back into the dark of night before the light of the following box office weekend. Can it play outside the teen market? Watch the trailer and judge for yourself.

Also in November … Ooh, Jason Statham in TRANSPORTER 3! What could possibly be more useless and uninteresting … Oh, right. How about Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer all coming back to lend their voices to MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA … Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott search for deeper meanings to life in the testosterone driven comedy, ROLE MODELS … Both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes recently passed away on the same weekend and eerily enough will be appearing in the same film, SOUL MEN … It’s a family Christmas in Chicago for John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez and Debra Messing in NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS … John Travolta and Miley Cyrus lend their voices to Disney’s BOLT, in which a TV dog believes he’s the real deal … THE ROAD features Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron in a film based on a Cormac McCarthy novel? Stop, you got me … And finally, there is FOUR CHRISTMASES, where Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughan (who apparently struggled to get along on set) have to trek a trek I’m all too familiar with to visit four separate families on one joyous day.